Optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications including, but not limited to, broadband voice, video, data transmission and consumer electronic devices configured with optical communication capability. As such, consumer devices require increasing amounts of bandwidth, and therefore optical interface devices (also referred to more colloquially as “optical connectors”) are likely to see increasing use. However, generally speaking, conventional optical interface devices were originally developed as specialized fiber optic connectors for telecommunication networks. Such optical interface devices are thus unsuitable for the more general and robust requirements associated with consumer electronic devices that have optical communication capability. Conventional optical interface devices rely most often on the direct alignment of one optical fiber core to another. For the robust requirements associated with consumer electronic devices, there are certain advantages to incorporating lenses that effectively expand the diameter of the coupled light beam.
Certain types of optical interface devices developed to date employ one or more lenses supported within one or more ferrules so that the lens surfaces that have a curvature are not exposed to the external environment. In addition, the external lens surfaces (i.e., the surfaces exposed to the external environment) are typically flat, and in some cases are configured to make substantial solid-to-solid contact with the external lens surfaces of a mating optical interface device in forming an optical interface assembly. Such contact serves to expel liquid contaminants from the assembly interface to maintain a satisfactory optical connection.
Certain types of lens-based optical interface devices utilize one or more GRIN lenses. The GRIN lenses of the optical connectors can be arranged in a ferrule or other support member and then laser processed (i.e., laser cleaved) to achieve a final GRIN lens configuration. However, such laser processing can have a detrimental effect on the performance of the GRIN lens in an unpredictable and uncontrolled way, particularly with respect to the shape of the external lens surfaces. This in turn leads to a reduction in coupling efficiency and an increase of cross-talk between channels when the optical interface devices are mated to form an optical interface assembly.